Valve



Sept- 23, 1952 J. sAlNsBURY ETAL 2,611,391

`SPt- 23, 1952 J. sAlNsBuRY Erm. 2,611,391

VALVE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Dec. 14, 1945 Patented Sept. 23, 1952 VALVEJohn Sainsbury, permit, and William E. Hermens, yBelleville, Mich.,vassignors to Ross Operating Valve Company, Detroit, Mich.

Application December -14, 1945, Serial N0. 634,970

4 Claims.

The 'present invention 'relates to pilot operated valvesof the typeemployed in 'controlling the operation of air cylinders. f

'Fo'rsome purposes, lsuch as for actuating the electrodes cf 'spotwelding machines, it is desirable AtoreciprocateV air cylinders at veryhighY speeds. ThisV must bedone by a control valve which reverses thepressure and exhaust connections to the cylinder. The requisite rapidreciprocatio'n of the control valve gives rise to destructive hammeringeiiects which shorten the life lof the valve and particularly the valveseats.

In addition, the only practical method of reciprocating such valves athigh speeds and at accurate intervals isby the use Voi solenoids. Thesemust be of excessive size if they are to operate the valve directly andaccordingly, the use of; solenoid-controlled pilot operated valves hasbeen proposed. Prior solenoid controlled pilot operated valves have beenexceedingly complicated and expensive. Y

Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention -toprovidean improved and more vrugged and simple form of pilot operatedcontrol valve capable of Vhigh-speed operation.

Another object of the invention is. to provide a-valve of the above typefor controlling doubleacting air cylinders.y

-Another object isto provide an `improved form of :pilot valve foroperation'` by a solenoid.

Other objects and advantages of the invention cation, the accompanyingldrawings and the appended claims. v

,In .the drawings:

vFigure 1 is a longitudinally horizontal sectionv struction; Y

The invention, as illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, is embodiedin a novel form of poppet type four-way valve adapted for use incontrolling the action of double-acting air cylinders. This form of theinvention comprises three principal parts; namely, a base castingindicated generally at l; a valve body indicated generally at 2; and anelectromagnetic actuator or solenold mechanism indicated generally atl3.

2 As best'shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, 'the base casting is cored out toprovide four chambers indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3 by thel11u-- merals d, 5, t and l. Chamber 4 is provided with a port ii whichis adapted to communicate with one end of the air cylinder. Chamber 6 isprovided lwith a port 9, adapted to communicate '30 will become apparentfrom the following specifi--V` with the opposite end of the samecylinder, Chamber 5 is provided with a port I8, adapted to communicatewith a source of air or gas under pressure. Chamber l' provided with :aport Il, adapted 'to Vcommunicate with the atmosphere or a low pressure.region for exhaust purposes. While the major portion of chamber '6 isin longitudinal alignment with chamber f, it has'anarmprojecting'laterally into a position in .longitudinal alignment with andbetween the chambers 5 and 1.

The top surface ci the baseA casting l is pro-y vided with four ports;port I2 communicating with chamber 4; port I3 communicating withychamber 5; port I4 communicating with chamber 6; and port l5communicating with chamber 1. The .base casting isalso Aprovided withaperturcd ends'or flanges I6.by means of which it may be mounted.

The valve body 2 has a flat under surface provided with ports Il, i8, I9and 28 which are aligned and communicate respectively with thepreviouslymentioned base casting ports i3., I4, l5 and l2. The valvebody is provided with a transverse cored chamber 2| communicating withportjl'l; a second transverse cored chamber 22 communicating with portI9 by means of a passageway 23, shown best in Figure 2; and acoredchamber 24 communicating with the port 20. Thegvalve body is alsoprovided with the cored chamber 25 which is in communication with theport I8. The wall'26, which separates charn- -bers 2| and 25 is providedwith a port 21,. and the wall 28 which separates the chambers 25 and 22,is provided with a port 29 aligned with port 2l. rIhe ports 2'1 and 29are adapted to be controlled by apoppet valve assembly having a pair ofvalve heads 3b and '3l which are held in spaced` relation vby means of astem 32. The valve head 3i -is provided with a piston 33 formed with apair of annular ribs betweenwhich, is.

iitted to atorus-shaped ring 34 formed of rubff ber-like material whichacts as a seal. The pis'- ton ts within a cylindrical bore '35 which isaligned with the ports 21 and 23. lThe outer endy of bore 35 iscounter-bored and threaded to receive a closure plug 36.

v'I'he valve head 3U, which is positioned within ak longitudinalextension of chamber 2l, is

provided with a reduced projection 31 adapted to receive a compressionspring 38, the opposite end of which is fitted within a closure cap 39that is threaded into a suitable opening located in alignment with theports 21 and 29.

A novel form of valve seat and sealing elements areemployed inconjunction with the valve heads 30' and 3|. Thus it will be noted thatthe valve seating surface 40 of the port 29 is a flat surface extendingat right angles to the axis of the stem 32 and that the valve head 3| isprovided with an annular recess 4| in which is positioned a torus-shapedsealingV element of rubber-like material. The sealing element 42 ispreferably secured against displacement in the recess 4| by peening overthe outer rim of the recess. The sealing element projects beyond the endof the valve head and is adapted to cooperate with the valve seat 40.This form of valve seat and sealing element is simple and inexpensive toconstruct and has been found to have remarkable endurance under therapidly repeated pounding action incident to operation of the valveunder the most severe condition. The seat and sealing element of valvehead 30 provided for controlling port 21 is identical in constructionand hence need not be further described.

The wall 43, which separates chamber 2l from chamber 24, is providedwith an opening in which is secured a removable valve seat element 44having a port 45 and a flat seating surface 46 located within thechamber 24. The wall 41 which separates chambers 24 and 22, is providedwith a port 48 having a valve seating surface 49. A cylindrical valveelement 50 is positioned within the chamber 24 and is provided at itsends with a pair of sealing elements similar in construction andoperation to previously mentioned element 42 and which cooperate withseating surface 46 and 49 respectively to control the ports 45 and 48.The valve element 50 is held in spaced relation with respect to a piston52 by a rod 53; and the piston 52 is similar in construction to piston33. Piston 52 is mounted within a cylindrical bore 54 which is alignedwith the ports 45 and 48; and the outer end of the bore 54 is threadedto receive a closure j plug 55.- The left-hand end of the valve element50 is provided with an extension 56, which passes through port 45 andbearsagainst one end of a compression spring 51. The opposite end ofthespring is seated within a pocket in a closure plug 58 which is threadedin a suitable opening formed in the valve body.

The valve head 30 is guided by four circumfer entially spaced inwardlyprojecting longitudinal ribs 59 formed within the axial extension ofchamber 2|. Valve element 50 is similarly guided by fourcircumferentially spaced radially projecting longitudinal ribs 60 formedon the walls of chamber 24.

As best shown in Figure 2, a pilot valve is provided for controlling theadmission of operating pressure to the right-hand ends of the cylinders35 and 54 to effect a shift of the valves to the left from the positionsillustrated in the drawings. The pilot valve includes a valve seatingring 6| provided with a port 62 and an annular seating surface 63. Theseating element 6| is threaded into position against shoulder 64 in athreaded opening 65 which extends vertically above the center of thevalve body 2. The port 62 is normally held closed by a valve element 66having a stem which slidably fits a cylinder recess 61 in the bottomwall of an air inlet chamber 68 and is extremity 14 adapted to projectinto the port 62 and engage and open Valve 66 against the force ofspring 69 and any air pressure which may be acting on the valve element.A spring 15 normally acts to hold the solenoid armature portion |30 up.While the solenoid 3, when energized, operates to force the pindownwardly to open the pilot valve. The pilot valve is held open duringthe interval in which the solenoid is energized. When the solenoid isde-energized, the armature portion |30 ascends, permitting pilot valve66 to close under the influence of spring 69 augmented by fluidpressure. It will be seen that this drives the pin 13 upwardly, 'andwhen the upward movement of the pilot valve is arrested by engagement ofits pad 10 with the valve seat 63, the pin 13 continues upwardly due tothe uid pressure on the flange |05 of the pin and also due ,to themomentum of the pin. This frees the lower end of the tubular pin fromengagement with the upper surface of the pad 10. After the pressure inthe passage 8| and in the connected right end portions of cylinders 35,54 is dissipated, the pin 13 may again fall to v f re-eneage the pad'10. depending upon the friction with which the pin 13 is fitted, butthis is lof no particular importance. If the pin falls. it will bestruck a sharp blow by the armature when the solenoid is energized todrive the pilot valve from its seat, while if the pin is still raised orin an intermediate position when the armature is driven downwardly, thepin is driven sharply against the valve pad 10 to knock the valvequickly from its seat. When the pin 13 is in the upper positionillustratedl the outlet chamber 12 of the pilot valve is connected toatmosphere by means of an axial bore 16 extending through the pin 1I andcommunicating with an atmospheric port 11 formed in the upper portion ofthe pin. When the pin is moved downwardly by the solenoid, the lower endof the reduced portion 14 seats against the sealing pad 10, therebyclosing the lower end of the bore 16 and disconnecting the chamber 12from atmosphere, very slightly before but substantially at the same timethat valve 66 is v4opened. The air inlet chamber 66 is connected bymeans of a passageway with a previously mentioned chamber 2|, while theairv outlet chamber 12'is a connected by means of a passageway 8| to across-passageway 82 which, as

best shown in Figure 4, communicates with the- The operation of thedevice is asl followsz'y With ports 8, 9, |0 and connected as described,operating pressure enteringv port I0 willexlst'in chambers 5, 2| and 68at all times, while cham-- bers 1 and 22 and the left-hand ends of thecylinders 35 Iand 54 will be connected to the exhaust outlet at alltimes. The outlet chamber 12o! the' pilot lvalve is constantly incommunication with" the right-.hand ends of both ofthecylindersv 'v 35and 54. With'thepartszin the pcsitionillus` trated, 4thevalve elements30, 3I and 5Il-wi1lbe held in 'their-right-hand positions by theactionof springs 38 and '51,'and `by the pressure in chamber 2I. In thatpositionports 21 and 48 arev closed andports 29 and v45 are open. 'Ihelair-finl`et chamber' 63 of the pilot valve! is connectedto the air underpressure inv chamber ZI bye-a passageway 80. The right-hand ends of thecylinders 35 and 54 are connected to the atmosphere'f through passageway81| and/32: and`= the bores 16y and r11 in pin 13. vAs a result, airvunderpressure iiows from port I0 through chamber 5', ports I3 and I1,chamber'ZI, p'ortlln:` chamber 24, ports and I2 and chamberdtogthecylinder 1 .and ,port Il i v When solenoid 3 is energized, pin i3.is-den` pressed, and the right-hand ends of the cylinders and 5d willbe disconnected from the atmosphere and connected through bores 82 andBI, port 62, chamber 68 and passageway Sli to the pressure existingl inchamber 2|. Since the di ameters of the pistons 3.3 and 52 are greaterthan the seating diameters of the valvesv 30V and 5B, the pressureacting on the right-hand ends of the pistons will force the valves tothe left, as viewed in the drawings, compressing springs 33 and 51. Thiswill close .ports 29 Iand 45 and open ports 21 and 48. InY thatpositionof the parts, pressure from portV III passes through chamber 5,ports I3 and I1, chamber 2|., port 21, chamber 25,- ports I8 and I4 and.chamber S to the cylinder port 9. At the saine time cylinder port 8isconnected through Achamber 4, ports .I2 and 20, chamber 2li,v port 48,chamber 22, passageway 23, .ports `I9 and I5 and chamber 1 to theexhaust port II.

ljAs soon as the solenoid pin 13 will be lifted upwardly by pressureacting on the shoulder on the pin thereby permitting valve element 36 toclose port 62 under the inuence of spring 69 and any differentialpressure acting on the valve. At the same time the pilot outlet chamber12 is connected to atmosphere through bores 16 and 11, therebydischarging the air under pressure at the right-hand ends of the pistons33 and 52. As soon as the air at the right-hand ends of the pistons isdischarged, which occurs almost instantaneously, the valves will beshifted into the position illustrated in the drawings by means ofsprings 38 and 51, plus air pressure in chamber 2 I.

It will be apparent that there is provided in accordance with thepresent invention, a solenoid controlled four-way pilot operatedpneumatic valve of the type employing two poppet valve assemblies, eachof Which is in effect a three-way valve. An important feature of thepresent invention resides in the utilization of a single relativelysmall pilot valve for controlling the simultaneous reciprocation of tworelatively large poppet valve assembiles. The construction of the valvesand seats and the general arrangement of the parts is such that thevalve may be operated continuously for long periods at exceedingly highspeeds without injury. In actual tests, reciprocations at speeds inexcess of 400 cycles a minute for sustained periods have not producedfailure of any part of the mechanism.

is f rie-energized, the

The design or construction of the.pilotvalve l is particularly suitedylfor Aoperation by .a 'ela tivelyfsmall and therefore inexpensivesolenoid.

This results not only'rfr'om thesmall size lofthe.. pilot valve, butfrom the principles upon'which, it; operates. "Thus, `it will lbe notedthatwhenz... the parts are in vthe position illustrated in the drawings,'the highv pressure existing in cham@ ber '68V is acting tohold thepilot valve closed; while the pin 13 iselevated .in spaced relationy tothe-seating' pad 10o-f the pilot valve. When/zA the solenoid isenergized; the pin .is driven down-f wardl'yfandthe initial `downwardmovement is.. unopposed except 'by Vthe relatively light spring`V 'I5vruntil such'ftime as the end of thevpin 13 strikes' pad11Il`. By thattime, the pin 13.and .theasso-f' ciated'movin'gfparts in the solenoidhave conf; siderable kineticY energy which is effectiveto` drive thevalve element-166 off. its vseat ybyfa hammer-like blow. As soon asthevalve 66 ls` open, the `pressure on the opposite lsides ofthevalveelement is substantially balanced an'drela-v tivelyilittle force isrequired :to hold itin an open position' Aagainst the relatively lightspring 69.'

. lThevh'ammer-like blow applied by the pin to 'the valve is cushionedby the pad 10 and consequently will not cause'injury rto any of theparts.

whiie the invention is umstrated and described.-

as embodied in a four-way valve adapted to conprinciples of theinvention are equally applicable to any form of valve incorporating twodoubleacting poppet three-way valve elements regardi.1.-lessfo'f'ftheinannersin'whichy the ports ofv the valvearefconnected'to eachother or to thepres-` sure supply or exhaust portkor ports. Moreoverf; the main valves may be utilized to( controlftheflow' of liquids. rather than gases while the pilot valve mechanismremains pneumatic without departing `from the broad principles of theinvention.. r, -While only one embodiment of the invention. isillustrated and described herein, vit willbe ap. parent that variationsin the details of construction and arrangement of the parts may beindulged in without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A four-way pneumatic valve assembly comprising a base, said basehaving four passageways each of which extends through the base and isconnected to one of a plurality of ports, all of which ports are locatedin one surface of the base, the opposite ends of said passagewaysterminating in openings located in substantially parallel side surfacesof said base, a substantially sealed valve housing having a portedsurface secured in sealing relation to the said surface of the base andcoacting with the aforementioned ports in the base, a pair of axiallyshiftable double poppet valves in said housing with their axes extendingparallel to each other and in a common plane parallel to said surface ofthe base, means including a pilot valve within said housing forsimultaneously shifting said valves in the same direction, means alsowithin said housing for returning said valves, said housing having portscontrolled by said valves and communicating with the passages throughsaid base.

2. Arpilot-controlled, huid-operated four-Way valve and motor unitcomprising a housing having a pressure supply chamber and an exhaustchamber, a pair of substantially parallel rectilinearlyslidablethree-way. valves therein arranged side by side and relatively close toone another, each of said valves having an independent outlet chamber, apair of pistons, one such pistonbeing operatively connected to each ofsaid valves, eachV piston forming in effect a substantially coaxialcontinuation of its valve, and said pistons also being arranged side byside and relatively vclose to one another,v said pressure supply chamberbeing located near the ends of said valves opposite to the ends to whichthe pistons are connected, outlet chamber of said valves being locatedcloser to said pistons, intercommunicating cylinder head chamberportions in pressure-conductive communication with the ends'of the saidpistons remote from their respective valves, and a pilot valve forcontrolling communication between said pressure supply chamber and saidcylinder head chamber portions, said pilot valve comprising a twoposition valve element movable to interrupt or permit communicationbetween said pressure supply chamber portions and said cylinder headchamber portions, a, stem for actuating said valve element including -aportion having limited independent movement with respect to said elementand an exhaust port portion connectable to and disconnectable from saidcylinder head chamber portions in response to such independent movementof the stem with respect to the valve element. j

`3. .A valve and motor unit as defined in claim 2 wherein each piston"is coaxial with its valve and the axes ofthe two three-way valves and ofthe two pistons being parallel to one another, said pilot valve beingmovable in a path perpendicular to the plane which contains the axes ofsaid three-Way valves and pistons.

4. A four-way fluid valve including a housing having four ports locatedin one surface thereof, one of said ports being a pressure supply port,another being an exhaust port and the remaining ports being controlledports,- means including four axially movable poppet valves Whose axesare parallel to said'surface for connecting one of said controlled portsto the pressure supply port while the other controlled port is connectedto the exhaust port and vice versa, said vpoppet valves being arrangedin pairs of axially aligned valves and the axes of said pairs beingparallel, means for shifting all of said poppet valves simultaneously inthe one direction, means for returning said valves, a base on which saidvalve housing is mounted and in which are formed four passagewaysleading respectively from ports in a single surface which are alignedREFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,229,446 Hall July 12, 19171,855,603 Lewis June 8, 1929 1,930,557 Hughes Oct. 17, 1933 2,097,201Renkenberger Oct. 26, 1937 2,218,861 Stumpf Oct. 22, 1940 2,240,168 PickApr. 29, 1941 2,311,806 Almond Feb. 23, 1943 2,364,626 Emerson Dec. 12,1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 8,865 Great Britain of 1913

